BCO Communication Strategy: An initial set of proposals James Deane BCO Impact Assessment meeting Johannesburg, 4-5 December 2006

Overview  Objectives  Assumptions  Expected recommendations from BCO Impact Assessment  Some proposed messages  Target Audiences  Risks  Some strategic options

Process  ToR drawn up for Communication Strategy by BCO partnership and subcontracted by ICTDA.  Initial presenation and discussion at Hague Meeting;  Concept document and questionnaire circulated for completion by BCO partners in October 2006, responses from nearly all partners;  Discussion with BCO IA Team and incorporation of feedback.  Distribution of draft initial BCO Communication Strategy.  Discussion at December 2006 Johannesburg meeting.

Objectives of the BCO Communication Strategy  Increase understanding, recognition and funding support from donor and development organisations for ICD interventions;  Increase name recognition and respect for the BCO partnership;  Help achieve recognition among senior level policymakers (international and country based) that compelling and credible evidence exists of the impact of ICD programming.  Increase learning by the broader ICD community on what works and what does not work in ICD support, based on BCO experience.

Assumptions of the BCO Communication Strategy  Rooted in the Impact Assessment; where communication activities not rooted in IA, to be clear that this is the case and the rationale;  Impact Assessment will produce a detailed report – the central pillar of the communication strategy.  Current Component 1 report sufficiently substantive in its conclusions to provide a strong basis for determining the Communication Strategy.  A series of suggestions and options for a BCO Communication Strategy are proposed here – decisions need can be made now to enable timely implementation.  Residual lack of clarity over whether a promotional rather than a learning strategy is principal rationale for BCO Communication Strategy.

Assumptions: Expected recommendations of the IA Report  Not possible to conduct a meaningful impact assessment of BCO as a partnership as this is not what it has primarily achieved;  Lack of clarity on howpartners themselves want to highlight the value of the BCO partnership.  Importance of long term perspective in impact evaluation;

Assumed target audiences in order of priority ● Decisionmakers/funders at international level. ● Senior Bilateral agency figures (heads of agencies, economists, heads of sector desks) ● African and other regional development banks, NEPAD, African Union, OAU, regional multilateral organisations (UNECA) etc etc. ● Senior Multilateral agency figures and World Bank ● Decisionmakers/funders at country level: ● Government decisionmakers (particularly non ICD related, such as Finance/Agriculture/Health Ministries) ● Bilateral staff at senior level. ● Multilateral staff at senior level, particularly those involved in PRSP and related processes. ● ICD practitioners and organisational peers of BCO partners. ● Broader civil society/social movements

The Communication Strategy: Three sets of messages  Messages from the BCO Partnership  Messages through the BCO Partnership  Messages produced in synthesis with other partners and processes to maximise impact.

The Communication Strategy: Messages from the BCO Partnership  ICD is central to meeting the MDGs;  Collectively the BCO has the evidence and experience to demonstrate this;  We know what works and what does not in providing support to ICD programming. These messages only credible if there is clear evidence to back them up. That depends on ultimate finding of IA study.

 Messages drawn from individual BCO partners which, although not resulting from a partnership approach, demonstrate the long impact and value of ICD.  The Best of BCO or The BCO Experience;  Case studies/descriptions of long term impact achieved by key iconic programmes/activities of the BCO partners: e.g.  Community radio in Nepal (Amarc);  Roundtables (IICD);  GEM (APC)  Global AIDS Programme (Panos);  Advocacy centres (Oneworld)  Civil Society networks (Hivos, APC) Messages through the Partnership

The Impact of ICD as a field: Synthesis messages  Rooted in the needs of senior level decision-makers to have clear, coherent and if possible consistent evidence of the impact of ICD.  Several other processes of significant stature also measuring the evidence of ICD  Gamos and partners: A major Dfid funded study designed to collect, organise and disseminate evidence of impact of ICD;  Infodev study, focused on impact of ICTs on livelihoods;  World Bank study on impact of ICTs on development;  World Congress on Communication for Development;  CI summaries, Panos case et al;

The Impact of ICD as a field: Synthesis messages  Rooted in the needs of senior level decision-makers to have clear, coherent and if possible consistent evidence of the impact of ICD.  A sceptical audience.  Several other processes of significant stature also measuring the evidence of ICD  Gamos and partners: A major Dfid funded study designed to collect, organise and disseminate evidence of impact of ICD;  Infodev study, focused on impact of ICTs on livelihoods;  World Bank study on impact of ICTs on development;  World Congress on Communication for Development;  CI summaries, Panos case et al;

The Impact of ICD as a field: Synthesis messages  Strong recommendation to develop linkages and if possible joint reports and joint communication activities designed to communicate a simple, evidence based message to senior level policymakers:  The ICD community is a strong, professional sector, capable of producing collective, coherent and evidence based arguments and experiences;  BCO is reasonably well positioned and has much to gain from taking the initiative in producing such a product.

Strategic choices  How much BCO Communication Strategy needs to serve a promotional purpose;w much the strategy needs to be rooted solely in the IA study, and how much augmented by other experiences?  Prioritisation of target audiences?  How much branded as BCO?

Outputs: suggestions and option  IA Study itself;  Production of The Best of BCO or the BCO Experience;  BCO: What we learned: a summary of learnings  ICD: The Evidence – a synthesis study produced with other organisations;  A two page summary of the IA Study  A leaflet  A conference/event